


Welcome Home Baby

by flashytonystark



Series: And Baby Makes Three... [11]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, Iron Man - Fandom, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF, Pepperony - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AO3 Tags - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Avengers Family, Babies, Baby!Fic, Baby!Stark - Freeform, Baby!Stark Name, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, Domestic Iron Man, Excited Pepper Potts, Excited Tony Stark, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Iron Baby, Iron Family, Multi, Nervous Pepper Potts, Nervous Tony Stark, New Parents, Other, Parent Pepper, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony, Parent Tony Stark, Parenthood, Pepperony - Freeform, Pepperony baby, Present Tense, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Tony Stark, SO MUCH FLUFF, The Avengers are officially aunts and uncles!, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, baby!stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-25 06:03:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17719511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flashytonystark/pseuds/flashytonystark
Summary: “That’s easy for you to say, Pep. You’re back there, oblivious to these reckless drivers! Don’t they know I’m bringing home our baby today?!”Pepper has to snort at his comment. Out of all people to be complaining about dangerous drivers, Tony Stark should not be one of them. He can be one of the most reckless drivers she knows, but today is different, and she gets it. Reaching a hand up, she places it on his shoulder and squeezes and tells him to relax.She has a feeling she’s going to be telling him this a lot over the next eighteen years.





	Welcome Home Baby

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at 3am because my writing muse is that level of extra, so if you notice any insane mistakes, point them out so I can fix them. (:
> 
> Enjoy!

The entire drive home from the hospital has Tony’s stomach in knots and for the first time in what seems like his entire life, he’s actually driving the speed limit—correction, he’s driving five miles _under_.

Every few seconds he chances a glance up to the rear view mirror, not to see if anyone is behind him, but to check on Pepper and the baby. Pepper is twisted in her seat, her knees against the plastic base the infant carrier is strapped into, and she has one hand actually in the car seat itself.

“How’s she doing?” Tony asks, his attention turned back to the road.

“Sleeping like an angel. You don’t have to worry so much,” she says softly, reaching up to keep the purple pacifier from falling out of her daughter’s mouth that has gone lax. With the pacifier placed correctly back in her mouth, Pepper watches in amazement at how quickly her daughter goes back to sucking on it.

“That’s easy for you to say, Pep. You’re back there, oblivious to these reckless drivers! Don’t they know I’m bringing home our baby today?!”

Pepper has to snort at his comment. Out of all people to be complaining about dangerous drivers, Tony Stark should not be one of them. He can be one of the most reckless drivers she knows, but today is different, and she gets it. Reaching a hand up, she places it on his shoulder and squeezes and tells him to relax.

She has a feeling she’s going to be telling him this a lot over the next eighteen years.

When they arrive home, much to Tony’s relief, he pulls into the garage and is sure the garage door is down all the way before getting out of the car to help Pepper with the baby. The press had been horrible that morning at the hospital, hoping for an exclusive picture of Baby Stark whose name has yet to be released. Tony paid off a nurse to let him bring the Rolls Royce into the employee parking garage that’s attached to the hospital in order to load Pepper and their little one into the car in peace and he considers it the best 500 bucks he’s ever blown.

“I’m going to try feeding her before I put her down for a nap,” Pepper says as she eases out of the car with Tony’s help. She’s still a little sore, something her doctor assured her is normal, so she’s letting Tony take care of her because one, she knows she needs it, and two, she knows he’ll protest otherwise.

Pepper pulls the diaper bag onto her shoulder, much to Tony’s chagrin, but she does allow him to unhook the infant carrier from the base and carry it inside.

“Welcome home, Boss. Ms. Potts,” FRIDAY says as soon as they’re on the elevator to take them to their personal quarters in the tower.

Tony mumbles back a hello, too focused on his daughter who is still sound asleep in her carrier. He would hold her constantly if Pepper would allow it, already addicted to her baby fine hair and stunning blue eyes when she opens them.

Tony makes a stop in the kitchen while Pepper heads down the hall to the nursery to unpack the diaper bag of the extras she made sure to have in the hospital—just in case. He lowers the handle of the carrier back and gingerly undoes the chest piece and buckles that’s keeping his daughter in place.

At times, Tony is almost afraid to pick her up because she looks so peaceful and tiny and fragile. He’s not used to something this small being in his arms, but he’s learning and trying to adjust. He scoops her out of the seat, one hand behind her head, the other over her lower back, and settles her against his chest. Tony realizes immediately that she doesn’t like being jostled because her face scrunches up and she starts trying to move her head around to get comfortable. Her little legs are curled up underneath her as if she’s trying to turn into a ball and it amazes Tony all over again at how flexible babies are after they’re born.

Pepper is already sitting in the rocking chair that’s in the nursery, the diaper bag at her feet. Her head is tipped back slightly and her eyes are closed, but she’s rocking herself in a steady rhythm so Tony knows she’s still awake, just waiting.

“Hey, Mama. I’ve got someone here who would like to see you,” he says softly, the smile evident in his voice before Pepper even opens her eyes.

She beams at Tony, taking in the sight in front of her—the man she loves holding their little girl—and she sighs sweetly.

“Being a dad looks good on you,” Pepper says, moving to unhook the snaps of her nursing shirt and bra. When she holds out her arms, Tony steps forward and helps settle their daughter against Pepper before turning to grab the extra boppy pillow Pepper has been keeping in the top of the nursery closet.

He helps fix it around Pepper’s waist until she’s comfortable and Tony leans down to press a kiss to her forehead.

“I’m going to go finish unloading the car and start putting things away. Ask FRIDAY to get me if you need anything,” he tells her before pressing one more kiss to the side of her head this time.

Tony is halfway through unpacking the large duffel of clothes they’d both taken for their hospital visit, refolding shirts and sweatpants as he goes along, when Pepper steps into their bedroom. There is no baby in her arms now, but there is a baby monitor in her hands that has a small screen on it so they can see directly into the nursery.

“She ate like a champ and went right back to sleep,” Pepper tells Tony, slipping her arms around him from behind.

She leans against him, her cheek pressed to the spot between his shoulder blades, and she sighs, her eyes falling shut as she does so. Tony knows that sigh, knows that it’s her tired sigh, the one she uses when she’s really exhausted and ready for a night in. He drops the shirt he was folding and turns in her arms, but not before taking the baby monitor from her and tossing it gently on their bed.

“Pep, honey, you’re so tired. I can see it in your eyes; you’re barely standing up. You need to sleep, sweetheart, you’ve been through a lot these last few days and you’ll sleep so much better now that you’re home and not in some uncomfortable hospital bed.”

Tony knows he’s right because Pepper doesn’t even try and argue with him which doesn’t usually happen. He’s already worrying about Pepper enough as it is, so he needs her to sleep, to get some rest and energy saved up because from what he can tell so far, bringing home a newborn is no joke.

“How much more do you have left to unpack?” she asks, glancing over his shoulder and at the things still on their bed.

Tony pulls away from Pepper, reluctantly, and turns to the bed, picking things up and tossing them onto the floor or the tops of their dressers until there’s nothing left on the mattress except for the baby monitor which he promptly places on Pepper’s nightstand.

“Nothing that requires my immediate attention. Get in bed, Pepper. I’ll lie down with you for a bit.”

Tony pulls back the covers and gestures for Pepper to get in on her side and she does so reluctantly, glancing at the monitor screen twice before her head even hits the pillow. Tony climbs in beside her and pulls up the blankets before turning on his side to wrap both arms around Pepper.

Her hair faintly smells of her usual lavender shampoo and the hospital and thank _god_ they’re finally home because that means no more antiseptic cleaners and hard, uncomfortable vinyl chairs _._ With a gentle request to FRIDAY, the lights are dimmed and the curtains are pulled closed to keep out any offending rays of sunlight.

Tony doesn’t even think it’s been five minutes and Pepper is already twisting out of his arms to sit up. He soon follows suit, asking FRIDAY to turn the lights back on low as he does so.

“Pepper, what’s wrong?”

The baby monitor is already in Pepper’s hands and she’s holding it close to her face, trying to discern if her baby is still breathing. “I should’ve brought her in here and put her in the bassinet, but you were busy putting things away and I didn’t want to wake her and she looked so peaceful when I laid her down in the crib and…”

Tony leans over and presses a kiss to Pepper’s shoulder, his hand covering hers and lowering them and the baby monitor into her lap.

“Turn the monitor off and lie down; I’ll go get her. And if she wakes up, I’ll rock her back to sleep,” Tony says, pushing back the covers to get out of bed.

He pads over into the next room and carefully lifts his daughter out of her crib, taking her into his and Pepper’s bedroom where he just as carefully deposits her into the bassinet that is close enough to Pepper that she can reach out and get her if she starts to fuss.

“See? She sleeps like her daddy, nothing wakes her up,” he says quietly, slipping back into bed with Pepper after one final glance down at his daughter who has a fist curled up by her face.

Already, Tony notices a difference in Pepper. She’s relaxed and settles back into him with another one of her tired sighs, her eyes closing before the lights can even turn off completely.

It’s nice, being back in the privacy of their own home where no one can interrupt their moments as a family. Pepper and Tony may only get a little more than an hour and a half of sleep before they’re woken up by a fussy and hungry baby, but it’s better than nothing, so he considers it a win.

Pepper is a creature of habit and routine, so that evening, she sits down on the couch and turns the news on like she always does, this time with a baby in her arms. She left her phone in the kitchen, so while she’s busy getting her baby fix while watching the news, Tony swipes her phone and quietly makes his way onto one of the R&D floors with it.

She’s complained twice already about the baby monitors they’d bought and Tony knows it’s giving Pepper anxiety that doesn’t have access to every room the baby might be in, so he does what he does best and begins to tinker with the software. He’s only gone for an hour, maybe two, and when he returns back downstairs, Pepper is curled up on the couch, eyes closed, and the baby monitor cradled between her hands and chest.

With a few taps to her phone screen, Tony pulls up a list of each camera in the Tower and taps the one labeled nursery. He can’t help but smile at himself for what he’s accomplished—the picture quality is clear and bright and he can clearly see his sleeping daughter in the middle of her crib, the mobile of pastel-colored stars gently turning above her head.

Tony sits down at the end of the couch where Pepper’s feet are and runs a hand up her leg gently, his voice soft as he tries coaxing her out of sleep.

“Pep, honey. Wake up, I want to show you something.”

He almost feels guilty for waking her when Pepper opens her eyes, looking at him groggily while she tries to push herself into somewhat of a sitting position. Immediately, her attention turns to the baby monitor and she squints at the screen.

“Have you checked—,” she starts to say as Tony places a hand on her knee.

“Already checked,” he tells her, taking the baby monitor from her hand and replacing it with her phone. “While you and Antonia were watching the news and having a rousing mommy-daughter discussion about the current stock prices, I went up to R&D and came up with a solution to all of—well, not all of them—but _most_ of your baby woes. You can watch her from your phone, no matter what room she’s in or who she’s with and FRIDAY can give you any information you need to know.”

Tony scoots closer to Pepper, an arm around her waist and rests his head on her shoulder as he looks down at the phone in Pepper’s hands. They’re quiet for several minutes, the only noise in the room coming from the television. They should be enjoying this time of peacefulness, of no fussing baby or chore list to get through between feedings. They could be catching up on sleep or watching a movie or hell, planning their wedding, but here they are, sitting on the couch and watching their daughter sleep on the screen of Pepper’s phone.“I love it,” she finally tells him, her voice cutting through the silence. “I can keep an eye on her even if I’m doing laundry or the dishes. This is way more convenient than a baby monitor.”

She turns her head toward him then and smiles, and even though she looks absolutely exhausted still, Tony thinks she’s the most beautiful and strong woman on the face of the earth. He makes sure to tell her that between the light kisses he presses to her mouth as he grins. It isn’t much, but it eases some of Pepper’s anxiety and that’s all that really matters to Tony.

When he pulls back, he notices Pepper’s attention has turned back to her phone, and for once, it’s not to go through her emails. There’s a soft smile on her lips as she watches her daughter sleep and Tony sighs happily, though when Pepper turns to look at him, he has one brow raised at her and a smile quirking at the corners of his mouth.

“What? What are you thinking right now?” she asks, her full attention on him now instead of her phone.

“Want to go in the nursery and count all of her fingers and toes again while she sleeps?”

Before Tony can even finish his sentence properly, Pepper is on her feet and leading him down the hall into the nursery. As his fingers curl around her own, Tony beams at her and presses a kiss to the back of her hand as they lean over the crib.

“We make cute babies,” Pepper murmurs.

“That we do, Miss. Potts. That we do.”

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's been two months since I updated this and I apologize for the delay. I've been busy writing other angst-ridden Pepperony fics (series titled: We Are All Self-Sacrificing) and burning through my 2019 Goodreads challenge.
> 
> This one was on the shorter side, but I hope you still enjoyed it!
> 
> Coming up next: the Avengers stop by for a visit... and baby snuggles.
> 
> \----
> 
> tweets: twitter.com/flashytonystark | @flashytonystark  
> pics: instagram.com/sarahwiththegoodtea | @sarahwiththegoodtea


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